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Colorado Avalanche team player grades

The Denver Post

Posted:
04/28/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Can a silver lining skate? Well, in this case, the answer is yes — and very fast. After a disappointing and injury-plagued 2011-12 season, Matt Duchene signed a new two-year contract and then was the Avalanche's best player — hands down — in his fourth NHL season. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Veteran Avalanche winger Milan Hejduk may have played his final NHL game. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

The Avalanche was a nonplayoff, noncompetitive team again. So this won't be a pretty player analysis. The Avs failed at their jobs in the lockout-shortened season. Before the season, Avs management said the team was ready to "take the next step," i.e. become a playoff team. It didn't happen, for the third consecutive season and fifth time in the past seven. Denver Post NHL reporter Adrian Dater grades all Avalanche players who played more than five games:

Semyon Varlamov, G

C- Like a lot of Avs, he wasn't good in the second half. And was terrible on the road. Is he still the goalie of the future?

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, G

B His "quite frankly, I don't care about your Vegas trip right now" rip job on teammates woke up the Avs. He played well most of the season. The Avs had points in nine of his first 13 starts.

Gabe Landeskog, LW

C+ He suffered a concussion early in the season and never seemed to get going after that. Entering the weekend, he hadn't scored a power-play goal.

Ryan O'Reilly, C

C+ His contract holdout was a distraction to the team. When he came back, armed with a two-year deal worth $10 million, he played well for a while. But he tailed off, like most of his teammates.

Cody McLeod, LW

B- The rugged redhead became the Avs' top goal-scorer down the stretch and cut down on some bad penalties.

Jamie McGinn, LW

C He picked up his performance down the stretch, but overall he wasn't as much of an offensive presence as the Avs had hoped. He scored eight goals in 17 games for the Avs last season and had 11 in his first 45 this year.

Matt Duchene, C

A From start to finish, he was the Avs' best player. A renewed commitment to diet and conditioning produced quicker skating, and he consistently produced points.

P.A. Parenteau, RW

A- He proved to be a good free-agent signing. While his defensive performance suffered at times, he was consistently good at the other end.

John Mitchell, C-LW

B An injury to Steve Downie early in the season and the absence of Ryan O'Reilly forced the Avs to move him from center to left wing. He played hard and was good defensively, with some occasional scoring pop.

David Jones, RW

F It was an awful year for Jones. He didn't score and was a healthy scratch by the end of the season. He has three years left on a contract worth $4 million per.

Mark Olver, C

C He played hard, but wasn't a factor in many games and won only 41 percent of his faceoffs.

Patrick Bordeleau, RW

B- Took some bad penalties, but was an effective enforcer and showed some surprising puck-handling ability.

Paul Stastny, C

C Some believe, based on advanced statistics such as defensive zone starts, that he was better than the overall stats suggest. But as the Avs' highest-paid player and because of the ice time he gets, the Avs need more offense out of him.

Milan Hejduk, RW

C This looks like the end for the classy, longtime Avalanche player. Age and injuries have caught up to him, but it was a great career.

Tyson Barrie, D

C+ He played well at times, and things seem promising for the future. He still must work on his defensive zone play.

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.